
Péter CsontosInstitute for Soil Sciences, Centre for Agricultural Research · Department of Soil Biology
Péter Csontos
Professor
About
227
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Introduction
Plant ecologist with a particular interest in terrestrial vegetation, especially oak forests, dry grasslands and soil seed banks in general. Also interested in the flora of the Carpathian Basin and neighbouring areas. Committed in nature conservation and also in disseminating botanical and ecological knowledge to general public.
Additional affiliations
September 2008 - present
Institute for Soil Sciences, Centre for Agricultural Research
Position
- Consultant
Education
September 1978 - June 1983
Publications
Publications (227)
Nitrogen (N) fertilisers should be utilised as efficiently as possible. In addition to
N fertiliser doses, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is influenced by other factors. The effects of four different N, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) supply levels (0–3) and rainfall periods (dry, normal, wet) were investigated on NUE indices in six selected years...
In the published publication [...]
This research is part of a Hungarian Research OTKA project that examines the vegetation of sandy grasslands along the Danube. During this study, Festuca wagneri and Festuca tomanii were identified as potentially suitable grass species for urban planting and turf establishment based on preliminary research. Our aim was to determine the germination s...
This survey is part of a Hungarian Research OTKA project that examines the vegetation of sandy grasslands along the Danube. During this study, two grass species, Festuca wagneri and Festuca tomanii, were identified as potentially suitable for urban planting and turf establishment based on preliminary research. Our aim was to determine the germinati...
The conservation of dry sandy grasslands is a global issue because of the restoration and conservation of endangered ecosystems to provide a sufficient amount of forage under warming and drying climatic conditions. Our aim was to explore the impact of military activity on sandy grasslands in Hungary. The sample areas chosen were the Little Hungaria...
Water shortage, one of the main limiting factors for plant growth and development, can be alleviated by an adequate nutrient supply. The effect of different nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) supply levels and their combinations was examined in different rainfall supply periods (wet, normal, dry) on a grass sward in a field experiment....
Accumulated evidence indicates that species with small, rounded seeds predominantly maintain a persistent soil seed bank, while those having larger and less isodiametric seeds have a transient seed bank. We assumed that species in certain special habitats may be exceptions to this rule. In habitats with sandy soil and open vegetation, the seeds do...
The existing plant trait databases’ applicability is limited for studies dealing with the flora and vegetation of the eastern and central part of Europe and for large-scale comparisons across regions, mostly because their geographical data coverage is limited and they incorporate records from several different sources, often from regions with marke...
Isépy István (1942-2022), magyar botanikus, flóra- és vegetációkutatóra emlékezünk. Már fiatal korától a növényvilág megismerése érdekelte, ezért a gimnázium elvégzése után az ELTE biológia-kémia tanári szakára jelentkezett, ahol 1966-ban szerzett diplomát. Az egyetem elvégzése után az ELTE Botanikus Kertben működő MTA kutatócsoportban kapott állás...
We present PADAPT 1.0, the Pannonian Database of Plant Traits which relies on regional data sources and integrates existing data and new measurements on a wide range of traits and attributes of the plant species of the Pannonian Biogeographical Region and makes it freely accessible at www.padapt.eu. The current version covers the species of the reg...
Kecskeméttől háromféle távolságban elhelyezkedő, a szuburbanizációtól eltérő mértékben érintett településeken összesen 150 előkertben vizsgáltuk meg az ott előforduló fásszárú növényzet faj- és egyedszámát. Az előkertekben leggyakrabban egy faj, illetve két egyed fordult elő, de voltak 8 vagy több fajt és 14 vagy több egyedet felmutató előkertek is...
Due to the threats posed by climate change and landscape alteration, there is an increasing need to better understand using seed banks of continental grasslands as a possible aid to conservation and restoration. Here, the soil seed bank of a wet grassland type, an ecotone and a semi-dry grassland type, all formed along a slope in NE Hungary, were c...
The European temperate forest zone has great importance, in terms of maintaining the habitats of not only forests but also anthropogenous grasslands, which were formed as a result of habitat reconstruction. These habitats have great importance, by means of nature conservation, landscape use, economy, and forest and grassland use. The mosaic-like ha...
This article evaluates the three-year vegetation dynamics of a species rich, protected steppe grassland on loess where no grazing occurred for decades at Bicske, Central Hungary. A detailed coenological survey of vascular vegetation was conducted in four permanent plots of 16 m2 each from 2018 to 2020. Raunkiaer’s life-forms, distribution range, an...
Löszön kialakult gyepek botanikai vizsgálatának eredményei a "TALAJBIOM KUTATÓ TRANSZDISZCIPLINÁRIS KIVÁLÓSÁGI KÖZPONT LÉTREHOZÁSA A FENNTARTHATÓ TALAJERŐ FORRÁS BIZTOSÍTÁSA ÉRDEKÉBEN" c. GINOP 2.3.2 15 2016 00056 projekt támogatásával.
Organisms with different life histories are able to act as indicators of different characteristics of their environment. Here, we compared the precision of habitat indication by the vegetation and soil microbial communities in four salt-affected pastures: annual open salt sward, Pannonic Puccinellia limosa hollow, Artemisia saline puszta and grassy...
In the Anthropocene, the world's plant diversity is threatened with extinction and the erosion of the genetic diversity of natural populations. According to the State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2020 of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, two out of five of the ~350,000 known vascular plant species are at risk of extinction. Despite the considerabl...
Csontos, P., Kalapos, T., Pócs, T., Podani, J. (2021): In memoriam Simon Tibor (1926-2020). Botanikai Közlemények 108(1): 1-26. (In Hungarian with English summary)
At an age of 94, Professor Tibor Simon deceased on 26 November 2020. He was an outstanding scholar of Hungarian botany, a versatile researcher, a devoted teacher, a tireless advocate of...
Festucetum vaginatae Rapaics ex Soó 1929 em. Borhidi 1996 is a characteristic association of the calcareous sandy areas of the Pannonian basin; its dominant grass species is Festuca vaginata . Another typical species of these sandy areas is the newly discovered F. pseudovaginata . The question is whether F. pseudovaginata forms an independent coeno...
The present study focuses on the mosaic-like occurrences of patches of steppes and fore-steppes in the Pannonian forest-steppe zone. We present the current vegetation, which is maintained including by human landscape use, i.e., grazing and mowing. The area is complex and for this reason it shows the changes in the landscape and differences in the v...
In order to identify the most relevant environmental parameters that regulate flowering time of bulbous perennials, first flowering dates of 329 taxa over 33 yr are correlated with monthly and daily mean values of 16 environmental parameters (such as insolation, precipitation, temperature, soil water content, etc.) spanning at least 1 yr back from...
The exotic honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is often planted as ornamental tree in urban parks. In Hungary, it occasionally escapes cultivation, in other countries it has already become invasive, and thus, further spread cannot be ruled out. The production of copious long-lived seeds may contribute to its invasiveness. We investigated the soil...
Jelen dolgozatunkban négy erdei lágyszárú, Simon természetvédehni-érték besorolása szerint zavarástűrő faj: a Cardamine impatiens L., a Geum urbanum L., a Rumex sanguineus L. és a Verbascum austriacum Schott talajmagbankjának tulajdonságairól számolunk be. Az említett fajok magtúlélési képességét eltemetéses kísérletben vizsgáltuk. Frissen gyűjtött...
A high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for rapid and easy-to-perform discrimination between five goldenrod species present in Europe: the native Solidago virgaurea and the four invasive aliens, S. canadensis, S. gigantea, S. rugosa and S. graminifolia. The chemotaxonomic distinction was based on the chemical profi...
Abstract: This study aims to detect the environmental changes subsequent to village abandonment in a hilly region with the investigation of vegetation. The examined village has been deserted over a 40-year period; so it is observable how the vegetation, mainly trees and shrubs reclaim the former human-used sites. The impacts of the rural abandonmen...
Background and aims
If and how eutrophication influences the persistent soil seed bank is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesized that eutrophication alters the composition of the persistent seed bank indirectly through changes in the soil characteristics and aboveground plant community and productivity. We also hypothesized that changes in the pe...
Th e research reported here is a continuation of our previous germination study on the giant plantain (Plantago maxima Juss. ex Jacq.) aiming at the species ex situ conservation. Seedlings obtained from the germination tests were used for the establishment of ex situ stands. In order to understand the species’ habitat preferences, ex situ stands we...
Increasing the drought tolerance of cultivated crops is becoming a priority from a practical point of view. The identification and deeper understanding of genes involved in drought tolerance receives a great emphasis. In this work, we summarize the genes (Hsdr4, Dhn1, Dhn3, Dhn5, Dhn9, P5CS, HSP17, HSP18, HSP70, HSP90 and HVA1) that have been assoc...
Precipitation changes may induce shifts in plant species or life form dominance in ecosystems, making some previously subordinate species abundant. The plasticity of certain plant functional traits of these expanding subordinate species may be one possible mechanism behind their success. In this study, we tested if the subordinate winter annual gra...
Botanikai és zoológiai kutatások épített környezetünkben c. tudományos ülés
Szervezők: Csontos Péter, Miklósi Ádám, Papp László és Török János
Helyszín: MTA Székház, Budapest, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that frequently causes severe loss in crop yield worldwide. Laboratory predictors of field drought tolerance could significantly increase the effectiveness of existing plant breeding programs. In earlier field experiments, drought tolerance of 22 cultivated barley varieties has already been quantified. I...
Effects of different soil N, P and K supply levels and their combinations were examined on the species composition of a grass sward between 2006 and 2015 in a field experiment. The grass was established in autumn of 2000 with seed mixture of eight grass species. The calcareous chernozem loamy soil of the growing site contained around 3% humus, 3–5%...
Fiatal erdőállományokban, Budakeszi határában gímszarvas okozta intenzív kéreghántás nyomait tapasztaltuk. A sérült állományok fa egyedeit 10 m ´ 10 m-es kvadrátokban vizsgáltuk, pontosan lemérve a rajtuk megfigyelhető hántáskárok kiterjedését. A sérült kérgű zóna átlagosan 59 cm-es magasságban kezdődött, és 143 cm-es magasságig tartott. A hántássa...
Szabó G; Zimmermann Z; Csontos P; Wichmann B; Szentes Sz; Barczi A; Pápay G; Járdi I; Penksza K. (2017): Nyílt homoki gyepek cönológiai és talajtani vizsgálata a Duna-Tisza közén. Gyepgazdálkodási Közlemények 15(2): 47-56. (in Hungarian with English summary)
Vizsgálatunk célja, hogy meghatározzuk a Duna-Tisza közi Festuca vaginata és a F. pseudovag...
The antibacterial profiling of Onopordum acanthium L. leaf extract and subsequent targeted identification of active compounds is demonstrated. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and off-line overpressured layer chromatography (OPLC) coupled with direct bioautography were utilized for investigation of the extract against eight bacterial strains includi...
A talajok hazai és nemzetközi kutatásában egyre nagyobb szerepet kap a talajok mikrobiótájának vizsgálata. Hazai viszonylatban szikes talajokon eddig kevés ilyen irányú kutatás történt. Kutatásunkban kiskunsági szikes talajok mikrobaközösségeinek katabolikus aktivitás mintázatát vizsgáltuk Apajpusztáról származó mintákon. A mintavételhez négy, a sz...
The aim of our study was to reveal the differences in the species composition and soil properties of open sandy grasslands dominated by different Festuca species, Festuca vaginata and F. pseudovaginata. Due to the arid conditions, sandy grasslands are generally covered by xerothermic vegetation in which F. vaginata is a typical dominant species. Fe...
Eleusine indica was first reported from Budapest in 1928, and it is continuously spreading since then. Main goals of our study were to document the present distribution range of E. indica, and to describe its phytosociological characteristics within the administrative boundary of Budapest, Hungary. Th e survey was carried out in the second half of...
Th e aim of this study is to provide supplementary distribution records for fern species to the "Flora Atlas" of Hungarian vascular plants, published in 2015. Most of the data came from grid cells (according to the Central European Flora Mapping System) in the territory or in the surroundings of Budapest. During the work, special attention was paid...
Professor Gábor Fekete, the excellent vegetation ecologist and pioneer of several ecological subdisciplines in Hungary passed away in December 2016. The authors of this text recall a day spent with him in the field in August 1996. That time our research included mapping surviving fragments of natural loess steppe grasslands in the Mezoföld region o...
Intensive bark stripping by red deer was found in young forest stands near town Budakeszi, Hungary. Damaged trees were sampled in five 10 m by 10 m plots. In average, damaged zone started at 59 cm height and ended at 143 cm height from tree base. Considering tree and shrub species, debarking rate was the following: Fraxinus excelsior (89.3%), Euony...
We compared seed longevity of herbaceous species in three habitat types differing in stability. We hypothesized that seed longevity is the lowest for forest species (living in stable habitat), the highest for weeds, while species of xerothermic grasslands take an intermediate value. Ten species were selected from each of the three habitats with bal...
A non-targeted, effect-directed screening (bioprofiling) and a subsequent highly targeted characterization of antibacterial compounds from plant matrices is demonstrated on the example of Solidago virgaurea root extracts. The procedure comprises high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with six bacterial bioassays including two pl...
Summary of the poster was published in the conference volume:
Csontos P, Tamás J, Mucsi M, Ragályi P, Szili-Kovács T. 2016. Eltérő vízgazdálkodású szikes növénytársulások és talajaik mikroba közösségeinek elemzése többváltozós módszerekkel. (Comparisons of salt affected vegetation types and the bacterial communities in their soils under different h...
Characteristic changes can be observed in the physiology of plants during drought stress: water-loss is reduced due to the closure of stomata, root growth and later shoot growth are reduced, photosynthetic processes are inhibited - among other physiological changes. 22 barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties were tested in order to investigate the ph...
Remarkable differences were found between the microbial status and activity of four halophyte plant communities in 2014. Microbial functionality tests showed very similar tendencies. The 'vakszik' plants had very low root colonization and a barely measurable GRSP. In 'mézpázsitos' colonization intensity was under 10% and it had GRSP content between...
In Europe, the proportion of salt affected soils in Hungary is the highest compared to the total area. Solonchak and Solonchak-Solonetz soil types where sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, sulfate and chloride are the dominant salts located in the Danube–Tisza Interfluve belonging to the Kiskunság National Park (KNP). This habitat is protected because o...
Dolgozatunkban az Apaj (Pest megye) környéki szikesek növényzetét vizsgáltuk. Cönológiai felvételek alapján jellemeztük három sziki növénytársulás (vakszik, kiskunsági szikfoknövényzet és ürmös szikespuszta) juhokkal legeltetett állományait, valamint térfolyamat-elemzéssel megállapítottuk ugyanezekben a fajszám - terület összefüggést. Vizsgálataink...
Plantations of the alien Pinus nigra are considered among the highly flammable vegetation types in Hungary. The fire risk of such plantations was examined using McArthur's empirical forest fire danger model. Present paper focuses on the effects of drought conditions and terrain inclination on fire behaviour. Fire danger index (FDI) and fire behavio...
A new stand, formed by some fifty individuals of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., an invasive plant of alien origin, was discovered at the Katowice railway station (southern Poland), in 2011. Two years later,
the stand (increased to more than 160 individuals in the meantime) was re-visited, phytosociological survey was made, and four soil cores (5 cm de...
Abstract of the poster was published in the conference volume:
Mucsi M, Szili-Kovács T, Nyerky P, Szirányi B, Csontos P, K. Borsodi A. (2015) Genetic diversity and catabolic activity profiles of rhizosphere bacterial communities from solonchak grasslands in Apajpuszta, Kiskunság NP, Hungary. Abstracts of the 17th International Congress of the Hunga...
Relationships between seed germination response to plant-derived smoke and various plant traits (habitat requirements, life form, seed morphology, seed bank type) were analysed for 97 species of the Hungarian flora using published data. It was hypothesized that smoke-responsive species – those displaying enhanced germination in response to smoke –...
To identify powdery mildew fungi infecting Oenothera spp. in Europe, specimens collected worldwide were examined based on morphology and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of the nuclear rRNA gene complex. The specimens were morphologically barely distinguishable from each other, each exhibiting pseudoidium-type conidiophores but sexual mo...
Egy műtrágyázási kísérlet 39. évében, 2012-ben vizsgáltuk az eltérő N, P, K, ellátottsági szintek és kombinációik hatását a Festuca pratensis vezérnövényű, nyolckomponensű pillangósnélküli gyepkeverék 12. évének termésére és botanikai összetételére. A termőhely talaja a szántott rétegben 3% humuszt, 3–5% CaCO3- ot és 20–22% agyagot tartalmazott, N...
Summary of the poster was published in the conference volume (in Hungarian):
Csontos P., Mjazovszky Á., Ragályi P., Szili Kovács T. 2014. Minimi-area vizsgálatok szikes növénytársulásokban. XVIII. Apáczai-napok Nemzetközi Tudományos Konferencia ("Quid est veritas? Teóriák, hipotézisek és az igazság viszonya"), Győr, 2014. október 21-22. Absztraktfü...
Phytosociological and nature conservation assessment of the herb layer of 6-, 15- and 20-yearold post-mining Austrian pine stands was conducted in reclaimed bauxite quarries in Hungary. Great differences among the vegetations were found. Disturbance-tolerant species were dominant, subdominant and subordinated in the youngest, middle-aged and oldest...
Available nutrients and water are known as major factors influencing the production of grasslands. In the present paper effects of precipitation on hay production was studied on nutrient-rich (NR) and nutrient-poor (NP) soils, in a long-term field experiment from 2002 to 2012. The most effective period of precipitation was also investigated. Using...
Clearly defining the taxonomic identity of a potential biocontrol agent is an essential component of any biological control programme. As part of such a programme against Impatiens glandulifera, a highly invasive annual weed in both Europe and North America, the rust fungus Puccinia komarovii was collected on this host plant in its native Himalayan...
Effects of different N, P and K supply levels as well as their combinations on the development, yield and species composition were studied in an experimental hay field created by a mixture of eight grass species without legumes, having Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) as the main component, within the frame of a 39 year old long-term mineral ferti...
The effects of different N, P and K supply levels and their combinations on the development, yield and species composition
of a mixture of eight grass species without legumes, having Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) as the main component, were studied in the 40th year of a long-term mineral fertilization experiment in 2013. The soil contained 3% h...
The chapter discribes the natural and semi-natural vegetation of Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary. The 14-page text is complemented by a 9-page color image attachment showing some characteristic plant species and vegetation types of the area.
Jelen munkánkban négy, magökológiai kutatásokhoz épülő adatbázisról számolunk be. A magtömeg, a magalak, a magterjesztési mód és a magbank típus adatbázis jelenleg rendre 1892, 1654, 1927 és 501 fajról tartalmaz adatokat. Az adatbázisok használhatóságát két példa révén ismertetjük. (1) A magtömeg és a magbank típus adatbázisok kombinált használatáv...
Egy műtrágyázási tartamkísérlet 28-36. éveiben, 2001-2009 között vizsgáltuk az eltérő N, P, K ellátottsági szintek és kombinációk hatását a réti csenkesz vezérnövényű, nyolckomponensű pillangós nélküli telepített gyep botanikai összetételére.
Title: Növényökológiai kutatások magok és termések adatbázisai révén.
Keywords: adatbázisok, füvek, magalak, magbank típus, magméret, magterjesztés
Abstract: Ökológiai kutatásainkhoz a hazai vadontermő növények magvainak (terméseinek) tulajdonságait 4 adatbázisba rendeztük. A magtömeg adatbázis ezermagtömeg adatokat tartalmaz 1892 fajra, a magalak...